• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

UG - Utricularia graminifolia

I ordered a pot from Plantedtanks.co.uk to try again now I have soft acidic water. Thought I would try the tropica version as it appears much more compact and is apparently better adapted to aquatic life. Not sure if that was the best idea as it looks half dead compared to the Aquafleur variety I originally tried!

photo2djg.jpg


I got three pots instead of the single I ordered so maybe it's deteriorated. The five pots I had last week were thick and lush. This will probably die if submerged so I'll try them emersed and see if they recover.
 
Agree'd with P o f, it's dead.

The issue with this plant it turns out is that it's sensitive to ammonia, therefore when planted in a substrate like as it has a tendency to melt unless it's pre-cycled.
 
Hi Garuf,

I thought ammonia was a nutrient to plants?

Do you have any more info on that? It's the first I have heard. I've seen speculation that it requires a mature aquarium but this was put down to it feeding on appropriately sized organisms’ in\around the gravel that obviously takes time to develop.

The rock wool has shrunk quite a bit and the pots are covered in gravel so it does appear to have been kept semi planted before I received it.
 
At present i don't as I'm sorta busy but I'll point you in the direction of the Barr post I'd read it in asap. I think the mature aquarium thing is more of a speculation than a proper observation, the plant taking nutrients from the water column where it's abundant sort of rules out it being for nourishment from tiny micro-fauna that at best are in a minuscule proportion compared to in the wild.

Bladerwarts are sensitive to ammonia, just like how some plants are sensitive to glutaraldehyde (the active ingredient of excel et al).
 
Hi all,
They look awful and I would ask for a refund, but I'm pretty sure the yellowing is from lack of light. If you can put them in a tray of rain water (just up to the top of the pot) and cover them with 1/2 a 2 litre coke bottle (so just like a little cold frame to keep the humidity in and better than a big plastic bag) and put them somewhere light, but without direct sunlight (a little back from a window or N facing windowsill) they should perk up fairly quickly, if they are going to recover.

Technical term is "Etiolation".
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etiolation>

cheers Darrel
 
It could be etiolation, but I very much doubt that they would develop that while in the post. :)

I really like UG, an would love to try some, but one would need a single setup for it, cannot imagine any other plant to mix it with.


.
 
You'd be surprised, Luis some plants are much less tolerant of it than others, blyxa springs instantly to mind.
 
Ah ok, been lucky with blixa, but I have it close to my co2 diffuser.

Tonina is one plant I have not kept alive, got to me very healthy but then just died.

Will get a pot of UG then try it emersed. Very pretty plant, and Darell's picture looks great.


.
 
Tonias are one of the few plants that need soft water, not going to happen in London is it. ;)
 
Hi all,
It could be etiolation, but I very much doubt that they would develop that while in the post.
No, I reckon that is at least 2 weeks in the dark.

Nearly all insectivorous plants come from nitrogen poor environments, that is why they have to resort to getting animal protein for their N fix. Generally the problems you get plants from resource poor environments is that they are evolved to be very efficient at "grabbing" cations and anions as they become available. If you then place them in a situation where these nutrients are available you get luxury uptake, which disrupts the organisms metabolism, and often leads to death. In terrestrial plants Protea, Banksia etc. are a great example of this, they come from very phosphorus (P) poor soils and have huge root systems with mycorrhiza etc. if you put them in an environment with normal levels of P, it is rapidly toxic. I'm not sure with Utricularia as it is a funny plant, even for an insectivorous plant, as all their "roots" and "leaves" are probably modified stems.

cheers Darrel
 
I dont know if I am allowed to respond to this thread - so on here - I will advise I have been in contact with Alan last night when it was the first I heard of it and immediately offered a full refund.

The plant is far from standard quality and I will find out what happened. The one thing I will say is that when it was packed - I was advised that it looked substandard - so I suggested that they sent enough to make a decent order. In this instance - clearly I should have checked it myself.
 
I've planted them up as Darrel suggested, I don't think they stand a chance otherwise.

Sorry, didn’t mean any offence etc - I thought that may have been the case as three pots were sent rather than the one I ordered. All other plants were great, very sizable bunches (To the point of being excessively generous!)

An apology and refund was offered after I contacted Tony.
 
i'm sure there's no offence as you didn't mention where you actually got them from. We now know though!
 
It's the second time I've ordered from them, the main reason was the fact no one had a few rarer plants I was after.

The plants are always great and cheaper than Tropica. I had over 300 litres to fill quickly with plants so saved quite a bit!
 
Yep, they are cheap, I buy often and refunds are always available if something is not good.

I would like to get some UG to play with, will have to get some from tropica.

How fast does it grow, emersed that is?


.
 
Back
Top